Abomination
by NerdWithWings
Summary: "What are you?" Victoria Thwaites always thought that she would be able to keep her secret and her sanity. That is, until the Marauders brought a bloody Remus Lupin to the Hospital Wing on a night she was left in charge. She hoped that this night would not make a difference in her life, but somehow she knew that she would be foolish to hold on to that hope. Remus/OC
1. The Night To Forget

**Chapter 1**

"Are you sure about this, Tor? I could always set up in there and keep you company."

Victoria Thwaites let out a soft sigh. She knew her best friend meant well, but there was still something about being alone and focusing on the thing that she loves. The blonde waved her hand in the air dismissively; her thick, gold bracelets clinked together in light tinkling noises. "For the 7th time, Link, I'll be fine. Besides, you need sleep. You need it more than I do, you know that."

The dark haired boy caught her tiny wrist in one swift movement. He proceeded to continue the waving movement, chuckling at the sound of the clinking bangles. The boy's eyes crinkled at the corners, laughter hiding in the wrinkles, though worry swam in his irises. He let her hand fall to her side and pushed his hands into his pockets.

"I know, I know. It just doesn't feel right leaving you alone at night in the Hospital Wing," Lincoln said, his eyes looking ahead. The corner of the girl's lips curled up. They've done this scene a hundred times already.

"Well it's not like someone's going to hex me in the middle of the night," She joked while shrugging. "And even if someone did, I'm already at the Hospital Wing!"

Lincoln's light green eyes narrowed at his friend. The girl sucked air through her teeth, "Oh. Bad joke?"

The dark haired boy rolled his eyes, "I'm pissing, Tor."

"That settles it then. I'm going to quit school and become a comedian," The blonde teen supplied, which made Lincoln snort and suppress a laugh. Good ol', Lincoln. This made Victoria laugh and envelope the tall boy in a tight hug. "I'll be fine, Link. Don't worry. Now go back to the Common Room before a prefect catches you. And, thank you."

Without waiting for her best friend's answer, Victoria turned on her heel and entered the Hospital Wing. A concoction of rubbing alcohol, fresh sheets, and lemon filled the air. She breathed it in deeply, finding the blend of scents relaxing. Other kids would wrinkle their nose at the distinct hospital smell that the room gave, but not her. To the blonde, it was completely divine.

The teen's footsteps echoed throughout the Hospital Wing as she walked forward and her eyes scanned the huge room for the young, fair-haired matron.

"Madam Pomfrey? Madam Pomfrey?" she called out. Running a hand through her long, blonde hair, Victoria walked to Madam Pomfrey's office at the left corner of the room. _Surely_ , she thought, _Poppy would be there. Please be there_.

Victoria knocked on her door and waited for a reply. When none came, she turned the knob to find the office lacking a certain neat-freak matron. The walls of the office were filled with shelves, both new and old, rickety wood and harsh steel. In those shelves were hundreds and hundreds of potions, salves, balms, and herbs in different colored tubes, pots, and bottles. A lone bed was at the far end of the room in front of a window that showed the full moon in the sky. A little ways away from the bed was a cauldron that Victoria had spent many hours brewing potions in ever since she persuaded Madame Pomfrey to take her in. To her right, a desk was pushed up against a wall with a neat stack of papers on it and a wooden chair pushed in.

A piece of parchment at the middle of Madam Pomfrey's desk caught my eye, In neat and sharp lines, the words " _Victoria, I'm very sorry. Called to an emergency. Hospital Wing is yours for tonight. Keep it closed. List of chores at the back. Please read note at the bottom"_ filled the page. The blonde's curiosity piqued. An emergency? What happened?

Turning the parchment, the teen almost groaned at the list of chores that Madam Pomfrey left. _Well, at least I wouldn't get bored_ , she thought as she scanned the list. Her eyes immediately picked up ' _Stock list per cabinet_ ' and she had to suppress a squeal of glee. Finally! Madam Pomfrey was letting her check out her inventory! She scanned the rest of the to-do's, only skimming the tasks to start with her favorite as soon as possible. At the bottom of parchment, the teen found the note that the matron wanted her read.

" _Note: If a special emergency arises and you have to immediately treat a student, give him the yellow bottle potion on my nightstand,_ " she read out loud. "What?"

An "emergency" she says. What kind of emergency would happen in the middle of a school night not even a month after it has started? Shaking her head, Victoria looked towards the nightstand where a certain yellow bottle glowed from the moonlight shining through the office's window. Victoria definitely had not seen that potion bottle before. It was obviously worn and frequently used. The label was practically trying to hold on for its dear life to the middle of the bottle. But even if it was stuck perfectly, the label had no use since whatever was written on it before had been smudged or washed off. The cork stuck to the opening of the bottle was worn with many lines of stains circling the crumbling thing. The yellow paint on the bottle itself had come off in some places, earning a peep at the dark liquid sloshing inside.

The blonde had the urge to sniff out the contents on the bottle, eager to learn what made up the mysterious "emergency potion" of the matron of the Hospital Wing. If Lincoln was there, he would have already plugged Victoria's nose into the opening of the bottle, but Victoria knew better. She placed the bottle back on top of the nightstand, careful to put it back exactly where the young matron placed it. Victoria could already hear the comments from Madam Pomfrey about "putting everything in its proper place" and whatnot. Sure, Victoria was also extremely tidy, but Madam Pomfrey would probably measure the exact millimeters that the bottle was out of place. Whatever the content of the bottle was, Victoria would have to wait for Madam Pomfrey to share the secret.

Shrugging off her Hogwarts cloak, Victoria set it on the chair facing the tidy desk, careful to set on the chair neatly so that her cloak doesn't slide off or touch the ground. Next was her tie. She hooked it on the side of the chair. Immediately, her shoulders relaxed and the blonde let out a huge sigh of relief. She breathed in the lemon-y scent of the office and went straight to work.

* * *

If there was one thing that Victoria never wanted to see again was, it was a dark bottle with equally dark liquid inside. She was certain that the last five that she smelled to check the contents burned her nose hairs and impaired her sense of smell. But even with that thought, the blonde continued to sniff and swirl bottles of dark liquid as if she was smelling the bouquet of a bottle of wine.

The growing list in her hand had already marked her seventh cupboard full of potions and herbs, and yet she had around eight more to go. Midnight had already passed, but Victoria did not feel even a pinch of exhaustion. For her, the night had just begun! Anything could happen at that moment. She could throw a party at the Hospital, brew tough potions with Madam Pomfrey's ridiculous stash of herbs and potion ingredients, choose and change the curtains to some funky design—

"Madam Pomfrey! Madam Pomfrey! Please!"

"Where is she?! She knows that it's this time of the month! MADAM POMFREY!"

The potion bottle in Victoria's hands almost slipped from her shock. The room could have shaken with the intensity of the shout that came from the Hospital Wing's doorway. Without a second thought, Victoria set down the bottle and parchment, and ran towards the source of shouts. Although having someone injured is never a good thing, the blonde couldn't help but feel ecstatic at the opportunity to heal someone without Madame Pomfrey breathing over her shoulder. It could be a burn, like from a potion spill or a spell gone wrong. It could be a poor kid who got a broken bone from trying to evade prefects but failed. Or it could be a boring little tummy ache in the middle of the night.

However, none of the scenarios that Victoria had psyched up for in her head could prepare her for the famous Marauders James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew carrying a bloody and broken Remus Lupin. Well, technically, Potter and Black were carrying Lupin while Pettigrew was biting his fingernails in a few steps behind the three. Lupin was limp in their arms—pale, bloody, and sweaty. Gashes trickling with blood were all over his face which made his hair stick to his forehead. He was breathing heavily—painfully, as Victoria had noticed—and his breath hitched at certain times.

Before Victoria could even utter a word, the three Marauders accompanying the broken man pulled out their wands and pointed it at her. A squeak escaped her lips as her eyes zeroed in on the wands that were jabbed in her direction. It was a good thing that she set down the potion bottle inside the office, for it would surely slip from her fingers and cover her polished school schools with whatever the thick black liquid with a green tint is in the bottle.

"Who are you?"

"Where's Madame Pomfrey?"

"Why are you here?"

"You're not Madame Pomfrey!"

"What are you doing here?"

"Breathe a word of what you saw here and—"

Victoria surprised herself when, amidst the onslaught of questions and exclamations, she voiced out, "You're standing there with a bloody and beat up student, and you think knowing my name or why I am here is more important?"

The blonde had never heard her voice sound so loud or so aggressive. She almost winced after the final words left her lips. By the looks of astonishment and guilt that passed through the Gryffindors' eyes, they weren't expecting it either.

"Please, just put him on one of the beds," Victoria said politely after regaining her voice. "I'll be with all of you in a moment. I have to get the appropriate potions and salves for this."

Without waiting for their reply or giving them the opportunity to hex her, the blonde turned on her heel and ran towards the office. Two options came into her head: she could lock the door and try to escape through the small window in the office to avoid being hexed into the next century or she could actually heal the bleeding Gryffindor. Although the first was quite tempting, she knew that she could not even take two steps away from the window without climbing back and healing the poor sixth year. Her mind made up, Victoria threw open the cupboards and grabbed different sized, shaped, and colored bottles that she knew the bleeding Gryffindor would need. When she had found every potion she needed, a big armful of them, she ran out towards the four boys.

The four Gryffindors chose the bed at the farthest corner of the Hospital Wing, right next to an open window. The white bed sheet under Lupin was already rumpled and stained with a bit of blood. Victoria's heart skipped a beat at the sight. As she settled the bottles and tubs on the nightstand beside the bed, it dawned on her that she had to get used to this sight, especially when she tries out for St. Mungos. With quick and gentle movements, Victoria tried to clean the wounds and stop the bleeding. Some of them did stop bleeding, mostly the smaller cuts and scrapes, but almost all them continued to bleed even though numerous potions and salves. The blonde practically felt a vein on the side of her head wanting to burst. How she missed treating tummy aches and bleeding noses.

"I know that there is a confidentiality code that I should be bound to, and Poppy doesn't really like anyone prying into anyone's business," Victoria took a deep breath, "but may I ask how he got these injuries?"

The three boys looked at each other, a secret message being passed around using their eyes. Victoria had seen that look before. It was the one that she and Link would use often in front of Victoria's parents. Sirius Black straightened up a bit and looked deeply into Victoria's eyes. "He slipped and fell down the stairs."

James Potter let out a sharp sigh while Peter Pettigrew looked horrified. Sirius' face was completely blank, and Victoria was sure that he was dead set on keeping it that way. She had to hand it to the dark-haired, blue-eyed Gryffindor; he had a really convincing poker face. She gave a soft sigh.

She closed her eyes and pressed the cloth in her hand harder on an open wound on Lupin's chest. "My name is Victoria. I am a student assistant of Poppy's here in the Hospital Wing. I've been training on becoming a healer with Madame Pomfrey's help for almost two years now. I don't know where Poppy went. I came here because she asked me to earlier at dinner, and I came here only to find a note from her that says she went to an emergency. Like it or not, you're all stuck with me. Unless you want me to be helpless and let your friend bleed to death, I suggest that you help me know as much as the injury as you can let me so that I can help you."

After her final words, the Hospital Wing became quiet. Black still had a blank face, though the blonde could see that his left hand started tapping on his leg. Potter's eyes were filled with worry, guilt, and, possibly, shame. Pettigrew, who stood right next to the window which illuminated his mousy features, looked like he was almost about to cry.

"A wolf," Lupin coughed, his voice raspy and pained. "I got mauled by a wolf."

The Marauders' heads snapped towards their poor friend on the hospital bed. Victoria had to stifle a gasp, almost having completely forgotten the broken man that lay before her. A bead of sweat trickled down the side of her face.

She said, "A wolf? A wolf would have never done something like this, and even if it had, the wounds would have been easier to control and to heal."

"We don't have the full details, Victoria," James Potter suddenly piped up, his hair messier than she ever saw before. "What we do know is that it was a wolf from the Forbidden Forest. It must be some magical animal or something. Whatever it was, this is a special emergency kind of thing."

Black and Pettigrew nodded at Potter's explanation. Victoria did not notice the look that Lupin gave to his group for the words "special emergency" rang in her head. Keeping one hand on the cloth, she reached and pulled one of the Marauder's close, placing his hand on the cloth.

"Hold the cloth there, and hold it down hard. I'll be right back," she let go of the cloth and sped towards the office.

Of course! Why didn't she think of the mysterious potion bottle earlier? Victoria snatched the yellow bottle from Madame Pomfrey's nightstand and, once again, ran towards the group of tired Gryffindors. By then, the cloth under Black's hands had already turned a dark shade of red, and the four were talking in hushed tones. Whatever it was they were talking about, no matter how angry they sounded, Victoria paid it no mind and approached Lupin. She uncorked the bottle and finally got to sniff the contents of the bottle. Most of the smells that the blonde picked up were familiar, but there were a couple that left her reaching at the corners of her mind to remember what it was.

Before Victoria could give it to Remus Lupin, a hand blocked her way. Sirius Black's eyes were cold and trained on the potion in her hands. Pettigrew whispered behind James Potter, who had stood up from his chair, "How do we know that the potion you're going to give to Remus isn't poison?"

The girl blinked at the mousey boy—once, twice. "If the potion that I am holding _is_ poison, shouldn't I pick someone in a higher position, like Professor McGonagall, Headmaster Dumbledore, or the Minister of Magic? Rather than a random student?"

Victoria whipped her head and stared down at Black, almost pleadingly, "This is a potion that Madame Pomfrey left me to use in case of a special emergency. Please, let me help your friend. By the looks of it, I'm your only chance."

Black tried to look for something in Victoria's brown eyes, something that he could hold against her like deceit or an apparent lie swimming in them, but he found nothing. Victoria opened her mouth to speak up again, but Lupin beat her to it. "Padfoot, just let her pass."

Taking that as consent, Victoria pushed pass Black's arm and helped Lupin sit up. Without a second thought, Potter held the broken and bleeding boy up as the blonde put the bottle to Lupin's lips. Victoria could already see the improvements that were happening as Remus Lupin drank from potion bottle. His wounds had slowly stopped bleeding and some of the smaller scratches were beginning to close. By the time that the potion bottle was empty, the Gryffindor's wounds had completely stopped bleeding and were beginning to clot. Victoria did not even wait for the other Gryffindors to comment and started cleaning the blood off.

The blonde could tell that they were doing the eye-messages-thing so she ignored the other three and focused on her patient. The wounds on Lupin's body were pretty deep and came in groups of four going in the same direction. Victoria thought that maybe Remus Lupin _was_ telling the truth, given by the look of the wounds. _Huh_.

The blonde administered a wound-cleaning potion (on which she could Remus Lupin hissing slightly at the pain), an essence of dittany, and a blood-replenishing potion. It was then that she noticed the other scars that covered most of Lupin's body. There was no patch of skin on his chest that did not have at least one tiny scratch. Victoria felt a tug on her heart as she scanned the slowly recovering scratches.

Her brain was screaming at her to do something about it or at least touch a scar, but she held herself back.

As Victoria was wiping Lupin's face with a wet towel to get rid of the blood, she could feel not only the stares of the three Marauders sitting on the chairs and the window ledge, but also the amber eyes of the broken boy sitting on the hospital bed. She tried her best to ignore them all and focus on her work, but she could feel her skin crawling from all of the attention that she was getting. The blonde stood up and pressed a hidden button on the wall beside the bed.

There was a _'pop!'_ behind her, and a small but very old elf appeared. The elf was dressed in rags with a stain on the bottom left, which reminded the blonde of coffee. The big, watery eyes of the elf looked at the girl up and down, and the elf bowed. "My name is Jinky, Miss Victoria. At your service!"

The blonde kneeled down on one knee so she was almost at eye level with the small creature. It was as if the others in the Hospital Wing had vanished and a smile graced her lips, "Jinky, is it? Funny, I don't think I have ever introduced myself to you, but you seem to know my name!"

The creature blushed, a pink hue covering its wrinkly cheeks, and looked down. "I'm sorry, Miss. Heely has been talking about you. Good! Good things, I promise! Heely would never talk bad about you, which is why it is a great honor to be serving you."

"Serving me?" the blonde gasped, "Tush that. You're helping me. And right now, I need a _huge_ favor from you."

If it was possible, the small elf's eyes became even bigger. The creature's bottom lip shook, and Jinky bowed lower, bulbous head almost touching the ground. A chuckle left the blonde's lips.

"What can Jinky _help_ you with, Miss?"

"Well, Jinky, can you see my messy friend on the bed?" Victoria nodded towards Lupin. "He had an _oopsie_ moment with the gelatin earlier. Don't stare, Jinky. He still feels upset about it. So, I think that it would really help if you could go to the boy's dormitory in the Gryffindor—"

"Gryffindor tower?"

"Yes, Gryffindor tower, Jinky. And then, can you get some change of clothes for my friend? Maybe a shirt and a pair of comfortable pajama bottoms? You don't mind, right?"

When Victoria turned her head, she almost had a double-take. All of the Marauders were wide eyed and slack-jawed. Not an hour after they showed how much they distrusted the girl, the Marauders are being called "friends" and taken care of. The first to snap out of the stupor was Potter who nudged Lupin hard on side. Victoria raised a delicate eyebrow, as if challenging Lupin to say otherwise.

"Oh, yes. I don't mind at all," he croaked, his hand reaching for this throat. Out of the corner of Victoria's eye, she could see Jinky trying to get a closer look at Lupin's healing wounds so she cleared her throat and nodded towards the other Marauders.

"I think the others would also like to have some change of clothes, wouldn't you, uhm," Victoria raked her mind, "Sirius?"

Black looked bewildered but quickly regained the pokerface that he held earlier. This time, though, it was much more relaxed. "Oh yes, I really will be grateful if you could. Wouldn't you feel the same, James?"

Potter nodded his head enthusiastically, pinching his stained button-up shirt, "A new change of clothes would be nice."

"And some long pajamas too," Pettigrew piped up from behind.

Victoria grabbed the little elf, who was leaning dangerously too close towards Lupin, by the shoulders and pressed a warm hand against the creature's cheek. "So, as you can see, Jinky, we really need your help. What do you say?"

The elf's head bobbed into almost a spastic nod, "Oh yes, Miss Victoria! Of course! Jinky will do whatever Jinky can to do it. Do you need some clothes too, Miss Victoria?"

"Oh, no. I'm good. I have a spare in the office."

With another nod and a _'pop!'_ , Jinky was gone and the Wing was quiet once more. Normally, Victoria could thrive in silence. Give her a mug of hot chocolate and a new muggle book, and you can leave her alone for a couple of hours. However, at that time, the blonde would have loved nothing more than to slowly sink into the floor of the Wing and disappear from the four Gryffindors.

"When Jinky comes back, you can all change your clothes," the girl called out, gathering all of the potion bottles into her arms. "Please help your friend change if he needs it. I'll be back in four hours to administer the potions that you have to drink again. Feel free to use any of the beds, but do not make a mess, please. If any of you need anything from me, you can find me in Madame Pomfrey's office."

With the potion bottles cradled in her arms, Victoria turned on her heel and scurried towards the office. Before she could fully close the door and lock it, a clear "Thank you!" from Lupin reached her ears. At that, she let out a breath that she did not know that she was holding and carefully placed the bottles back on their respective shelves. She hoped that this night would not make a difference in her life, but somehow she knew that she would be foolish to hold on to that hope.


	2. Don't Worry About It

**Chapter 2**

As the sun started peeking through the windows, Victoria had already scrubbed the floor of the Hospital Wing clean. It took only one hour for the Marauders to fall asleep after Victoria left them to change and for Victoria to finally creep out of the office to finish the rest of chores on Madame Pomfrey's list. It did take a while for Victoria to feel at ease. At first, she feared that any sudden movement would wake up any of the four Gryffindors, but even after dropping a bucket full of cleaning solution, falling off of one of the beds while she was dusting the high windows, and letting out a scream after almost falling on her ass, the four remained knocked out. Even with her singing, they did not even stir, which got the blonde curious as to what the four were up to before they crashed there. Currently, all of the four were on hospital beds, either in pajamas or in boxers. Thankfully, they all wore shirts.

Placing the bucket filled with dirty water on a trolley, Victoria heaved a heavy sigh. Finally, she was done with all of the chores. All that was left to do was to wake up Lupin in a few minutes to administer the second round of potions, and only then could she leave the Hospital Wing. She walked slowly towards the broken man lying at the last bed in the corner. Unlike the other three in the beds beside him, he was still and quiet as he slept. It must have been the sleeping draught or Lupin really did sleep that way.

His brown hair was sticking up at some places, and some were plastered on his face. The light from the windows washed over Lupin's face and highlighted some of the risen scars. Carefully, Victoria ran her finger slowly over one that went through his cheek to the tip of his nose. She felt as if her stomach was suddenly sucked in too tight and as if warm water replaced the blood in her body. Her eyes watered, and her knees almost buckled, but she kept on tracing the scar with her finger. Once she was done, she was almost in awe. Clear, pale skin took the place of the scar, almost as if it was never there in the first place.

"No way," she breathed out, hand still poised near Lupin's face where the old scar used to be.

Suddenly, she noticed amber eyes staring right at her. Flecks of gold around the iris were illuminated by sunlight that seeped through the windows.

"Is there something wrong?" Lupin immediately sat up, arms shaking at the effort that he had to exert. Noticing his difficulty, Victoria immediately reached out to steady him.

The blonde had a hard time helping the poor boy sit up, not because he was heavy, but she was afraid that she might dislocate something in him if she moved too fast or pulled too hard. She was awed at how a boy who surely towered over her in height and beat her in muscle could feel so fragile in her hands. "No, nothing's wrong. I was just going to wake you up so that you could take your potions again."

Lupin gave her a look that the blonde was sure meant that he did not believe a word of what she said. However, he surprised her by saying, "Alright. Thank you very much."

Victoria raised a delicate eyebrow at his reply. She knew of Remus Lupin and how he was different from the three mischievous and unruly Gryffindors, but she did not know up to what degree. He was polite enough not to inquire further on what she was doing before he woke up. In her head, Lupin was definitely in the list of people that she respected with hi outstanding moral character and smarts. She turned away from him and prepared the second round of potions on the nightstand next to his bed. The warmth had already left her then. She stared at her fingers and flexed them, trying to check if the warmth would creep back by any chance.

"What time is it?" Victoria's head snapped towards Lupin who must have been staring at her as she fiddled with the potion bottles.

The blonde tucked a stray hair behind her ear and answered, "Around five in the morning. Don't worry about not being able to get much sleep. You can stay here for as long as you need. I'm sure that's what Poppy would have wanted."

Lupin nodded, thankful that she mentioned that.

"Your friends, though," Victoria continued, passing the cups filled with potions to the amber-eyed teen and looking at the three Gryffindors on the beds next to Lupin's, "I don't think Poppy would approve of anyone staying over at the Hospital Wing with no serious illness or injury. Visiting hours _is_ obviously over."

At this, the amber-eyed boy chuckled and drank from cup after cup. Though it did hurt to do so, letting out a laugh felt good. "Thank you for letting them stay."

"Well, I personally believe that having the people who really care about you helps the healing process."

"It does." At this, Lupin smiled, although it looked more like a grimace. "Again, than—"

"I have to go," the blonde interrupted, gathering the potion bottles on the nightstand into her arms. "It's almost morning, and I kind of want to change clothes before going back to class. I hope that's okay with you."

"O-of course! I'm so sorry for keeping you here all night,"

"We had no choice. Madame Pomfrey suddenly disappeared. I'm just thankful that she left the emergency potion bottle." The blonde blinked once, twice. She licked her lips, thinking over and over if it was appropriate to say it. "See you around, Lupin."

The Gryffindor appeared surprised, amber eyes going wide. Victoria took that as her cue to leave. With arms full of glass bottles, she walked towards Madame Pomfrey's office once more.

"Oh," she called over her shoulder, "Please tell your friends that just because you can take a day off here does not mean they get to play hooky. I can vouch for you, but vouching for them will be problematic."

With that, she slipped into the office, put down the potion bottles, grabbed her stuff, and ran out of the Hospital Wing.

* * *

"Okay, there has to be something wrong for you to act like this."

Victoria looked up from her plate of waffles and fruit to Lincoln's green eyes filled with worry. She shook her head and dropper her eyes back to the food. "There's nothing wrong, Link."

A loud ' _bang!'_ started the blonde when Lincoln slammed his hand on the table. "We both know that's bullshit. You would've jumped at any chance to help at the Hospital Wing. Madame Pomfrey had asked you if you wanted to help around five times this week, and it isn't even Thursday yet! What are you avoiding?"

Lincoln leaned closer to his friend, mentally urging her to spill everything. When she had returned to the dormitory earlier in the week, she looked tired and almost worn down. This made the lanky boy start to worry, and with Victoria's adamant choice to "take a break from the Hospital Wing", he knew that there was definitely something fishy going on.

"Nothing," the blonde said, glaring at the wall beside Lincoln's head. "I'm just a bit peeved that Madame Pomfrey left me alone on the first night, and she did not even try to explain why she did it, alright?"

Lincoln sat back down and propped his head on top of his hand. "She really didn't say anything about her disappearance?"

"Nope," Victoria answered, popping the 'p' with her lips. "She would either pretend to not hear me or walk away."

She gave her waffles a light stab with her fork and murmured, "And I so don't want to be recognized by some Gryffindors."

Lincoln raised an eyebrow, "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Nothing," the blonde lied, smiling sweetly at her friend. "Look, can we just drop it? I mean, it's no big deal—"

" _SLYTHERIN?_ " a shocked voice shrieked over the chattering in the Great Hall. Over at the Gryffindor table, Sirius Black had stood up from his seat. His face was red, and his mouth was open. Next to him, Remus Lupin had his face in his hands. James Potter and Lily Evans were desperately trying to pull down the shocked grey-eyed boy and to stop him from causing a scene. Peter Pettigrew looked like his eyes were watering yet again.

Victoria did not know why she even thought of, but it did look like Black was looking right at her. At the back of her mind, she knew why, but she had always assumed that they have known. Before she could even overanalyze it too much, she turned back to look at her waffles and gave it another stab. It was no surprise that they would take it the wrong way. The Marauders were known to always target Slytherins and anybody associating with Slytherins.

"Something's definitely up."

The blonde looked up towards Lincoln. His face was set in a scowl. Victoria could almost feel the rush of guilt go through her body at the fact that she'd been lying to her friend, but she knew that she just couldn't break the rights of the her patients for privacy. "And how can you tell?"

Lincoln looked directly into Victoria's eyes. She almost had to hold herself back from flinching or looking back at her ignored waffles from the intensity of Lincoln's green eyes. It was hard trying to level with Lincoln's gaze, but Victoria managed to do just that.

For the first time, Lincoln backed down and sat back at his seat. His face had turned soft, almost apologetic. "The Marauders are staring at you. When Black said—well actually, _screamed_ —Slytherin, he was looking right at you. Did something happen? Are you okay? Are they terrorizing you?"

Victoria let out the breath that she was holding, "No, they're not terrorizing me. I'm okay. You don't have to worry about this, Link."

"Do you want me to tell them to stop?" Over the table, Lincoln slid his hand to cover Victoria's. "If you want them to stop, I can make them."

Victoria gave his hand a tight squeeze. "It's not like they're going to do anything to me. Thank you, Link, but you don't have to do that. I'm sure whatever it is that they're doing or what will blow over."

"Alright," Lincoln leaned back and picked up an orange from the fruit basket to his left. "But if they do anything stupid like prank you or even breathe in your space, you can't stop me from pummeling their faces into the ground."

Victoria leveled her stare on the boy across from her who was steadily peeling the orange. She sometimes never knew whether her friend was bluffing or serious. Her friend was always sweet, gentle, and understanding, but she also knew that he had a sadistic sense to him whenever someone hurts one of his friends. She could only sigh and say, "Noted."

* * *

"You've got to be kidding me."

Lincoln held the blonde's left forearm firmly as they both maneuvered through the hallway where kids of all years and different houses were trying to get to their class. The two felt like they were trying to go against the tide, but did not seem bothered by it. Going down the other hallway was not an option.

"Maybe they're—"

Before Victoria could finish what she was about to say, Lincoln dragged her to a left turn. "Don't look back. They might take it as a sign that they're doing a good job."

"This is ridiculous, Link," Victoria huffed as she sidestepped a group of third years. Some of her long blonde hair swept into her mouth which left her trying to blow out wet pieces of hair. "Ugh. Why can't we just take the path we always use? It's much easier there. Besides, I'm sure they're gone by now."

"We're not taking any chances, Tori," Lincoln said through gritted teeth, glaring at a red-faced first year who immediately jumped out of his way. "If you haven't noticed already, they're blatantly stalking you."

"You're just paranoid. I'm sure they aren't following us right now."

With a flick of Lincoln's right hand, the books that a Hufflepuff student was holding went up into the air and launched towards the back of the hallway. A chorus of different "Ooof!"s and "Ow!"s could be heard, but there were four voices that were very familiar to Victoria and Lincoln's ears. Lincoln's green eyes turned hard and a muscle in his jaw throbbed. The blonde knew where this was going, and she did not like it one bit.

"Just say the word, Tor, and I can make them stop following us," the tall boy whispered, almost sprinting with the blonde hot on his heels.

Victoria shook her head though her friend could not see it. "It's only been a few hours. I'm sure they'll stop eventually."

Finally, after a few minutes of running, the two had arrived at the dungeons and entered their Potions classroom. They were both too early, a result of all of their running, which they both felt pleased about. If there was one thing that they could both agree on in that day, it was that they _do not_ want to be late to any class even with the _different_ circumstances.

They sat down in their normal desk which they share with Severus Snape, a sulky and dark housemate, and kept a wary eye on the classroom doors. Soon, their classmates, both from Slytherin and Gryffindor houses, started trickling in. Severus Snape whacked his old Potions book down on the desk just as the four stalkers stumbled through the classroom doors. Sirius Black had a huge black and blue bruise forming on his head which made Victoria's fingers twitch and her mouth set in a hard line. She opened her mouth to chide her friend, but Lincoln put a finger to his lips. That was when she noticed that the four were looking for someone in that class. When their eyes landed on Victoria, they stared hard.

The blonde could feel herself start to shrink into her seat to avoid their harsh stares just as both Lincoln and Severus groaned. She glanced at the broody teen, "Is there something wrong, Severus?"

"The idiots have arrived," he drawled, flipping a page on his Potions book. The blonde knew of the many times that the four Gryffindors had terrorized Severus Snape and publicly humiliated him, so she had a soft spot in her heart for the sulky Slytherin. It also did not hurt that he was a genius in Potions and would always offer Victoria any helpful tips and advice when she was making her own salves and healing potions.

Victoria offered a kind smile before turning to her friend. Lincoln's left hand was gripping his quill too tight, his knuckles turning a stark white. "I'm sure that this will all blow over when the day ends, Link. Calm yourself."

The teen raised an eyebrow on her statement, but did not dare counter her again on her ludicrous statement.


	3. The Hospital Wing

**Chapter 3**

Victoria wished that she took it all back and let Lincoln straightened things out like he always did. Even though his ways weren't _the best_ , he always got the job done and hit everything on the head—sometimes figuratively, sometimes literally. He never would have backed down until she felt safe. Oh, how idiotic she felt for trusting that the situation would diffuse throughout the rest of the day.

"Watch it!"

"Sorry," Victoria mumbled, sidestepping around a small Ravenclaw girl that she had collided with. By that time, she was already familiar with four footfalls that echoed in the long hallway. They were close. She could hear it.

She started sprinting, dodging through the groups of students that were walking. The footsteps behind her got faster and heavier, alluding to another pursuit through the hallways. Fear started bubbling up in the pit of her stomach, like hot, black tar. They wouldn't stop. They would never stop until they get what they want. But, what do they want?

To get herself focused, she tried to imagine a seven-year old Lincoln, with freckled cheeks and a mud-splattered shirt, running a few ways ahead of her in the hallway. Her legs pushed harder, ran faster. She would always try her hardest to catch up with her friend, even going to the length of running until she was dizzy. She bounded up the stairs after the fast little boy, panting as she did so. Just a few more hallways and she would arrive at her Ancient Runes class.

The footsteps behind her were loud and were definitely keeping up to her pace. Victoria almost wanted to smack herself for forgetting the fact that Potter and Sirius were part of the Quidditch team so it would make sense that they could catch up to her. Panic chewed at her insides and left a horrible taste in her mouth. Sweat was already pouring down the sides of her forehead as her breaths become shorter and quicker. Just a few more!

As she was nearing the big wooden doors of the classroom, the edges of her vision started turning dark. Her legs were heavy, and each step that the blonde took was like wading through thick tar. The running footsteps behind her were still ringing in her ears, but she tried to keep her vision on the image of a carefree, small Lincoln already waving at her in front of the Ancient Runes class door.

She reached out towards the door before her vision was completely swallowed by black and a dull thud resonated through her mind.

* * *

"Why couldn't you just leave her alone? What did she ever do to you to make you stalk her?"

When Victoria opened her eyes, all she wanted to do was close them. Lincoln's face was red and the muscle in his jaw was throbbing. In front of him were the four Gryffindors that the blonde never wanted to see again. Black's eyes were enraged, and Potter and Pettigrew were trying to hold him back. Well, Potter was effectively holding him back while Pettigrew looked like he was trying all that he could to hold on to Black and to not slip on the floor. Lupin was well behind the four, and Victoria had to move her head a bit to get a good look at the teen. He looked sickly, not pale because of illness, but of looking at the scene in front of him. The bags under his eyes, which Victoria chose to ignore that night in the Hospital, looked possibly darker than before.

"Well? What do you have to say for yourself? Speak up! I've wanted to hear what you have to say about _this_ two weeks ago."

 _Two weeks_. The thought had only occurred to Victoria now that she had been on the run for two weeks now. It made her almost sick and ashamed that she didn't have enough courage to confront them about it. All this putting off led her to this fainting spell, _on a school day_. The blonde wanted to burrow into the crisp white sheets and sink into the mattress.

"This is amazing. You harass Tori for two weeks, but you can't even say why you did it," Lincoln said, his hands on his hips and his eyes trained on the Marauders. "Come on, Black! Come out with it!"

Before Lincoln could start an actual fight (and win), the tired blonde sat up, reached out, and grabbed his wrist. Immediately, the sixth year relaxed his tense shoulders and took a step back from the surprised group.

Lincoln enveloped Victoria's hand in his and kneeled before the hospital bed, "Hey, you gave me everyone a shock there. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Victoria croaked, finding her throat terribly dry. "My head feels a bit heavy and I'm really tired, but apart from that, I'm fine. What happened? How long was I out?"

The green-eyed Slytherin narrowed his eyes at the four Gryffindors at the foot of Victoria's bed. "They chased you, and you fainted a few feet from your Ancient Runes class. You've been here in Hospital Wing for a few hours now."

Victoria let out a heavy sigh. Missing classes was the last thing that she wanted. "This has got to end."

"Listen, Thwaites, we're—"

"No. You listen here," Lincoln cut off Potter, whipping his head to fully face the group. "You stop following her. Don't even look at her at all. Ever. You've done enough damage already when she hasn't done anything to you."

Sirius Black took a step forward and pointed a finger at Victoria's best friend. "You stay out of this, Shaw. This is something that we have to talk to Thwaites alone."

"And you thought stalking her and chasing her would get her to talk to you four alone?" Lincoln stood up and placed a hand on top of his wand which was already sticking out of his pants pocket. Black, Potter, and Pettigrew also started reaching for theirs. When Victoria looked at Lupin, she found the amber-eyed boy only staring at her with a defeated look on his face.

"We were only checking to see—"

"See what exactly? Why couldn't you just ask her about whatever the Hell you harassed her for?"

"Will you just butt out of this, Shaw? This isn't something that concerns you!"

"This does concern me when you make my friend paranoid with your stalking!"

"Enough already," Victoria voiced out. Her head throbbed with because of the fight—because of everything. Why couldn't her life go back to how it was?

She looked at four Gryffindors and shook her head, "Get out."

"Thwaites, we only wanted to—"

"Get out!" Victoria surprised all of them, even herself, by screaming. It took all of her willpower not to break down and cry. "Can't you see you've done enough already? Just get out. Get out and leave us alone."

"You heard her. Get out now," Lincoln supported, taking a step forward protectively. Black stared hard at the blonde, scanning her face for something. Whatever it was, Victoria did not want to even think about it. Pettigrew was the first to scurry off, followed by Potter who had to grab Black's shoulder to get him to leave.

Lincoln narrowed his eyes at Lupin, "Well, Lupin?"

Victoria touched her friend's hand gently and shook her head at his actions. As the amber-eyed boy started to leave, Victoria called out, "Lupin, how are you?"

The scarred Gryffindor turned around, his eyes wide. "Uhm, I'm fine, I guess."

The blonde teen nodded, "It's good to see you that you're doing fine."

Before she could hear his response, she laid down and turned her back to him. When she heard his footsteps fade, Victoria turned once more to look at her friend. "Thank you for taking me to the Hospital Wing."

Her friend sighed, sitting down on the near bed. "I didn't carry you here. I only got word that you were taken here when I got to Ancient Runes. I'm so sorry I couldn't accompany you earlier. I should've asked Xeno for his notes on my break."

"What are you talking about? You don't need to apologize. I'm the one who felt the need to run until I lost oxygen," Victoria replied good-naturedly. "Maybe I should have just let them talk to me. I don't even know what they wanted to say."

Lincoln took out his wand from his pocket and twirled it between his long fingers. His eyebrows scrunched up and his lips set in a hard line. "Tor, you don't know what would happen if you let them talk to you. I'm not even sure if they really want to "talk" with you. They could be setting you up for a prank or something. You've seen what they do to Snape."

"I know," the blonde blew out a puff of air, feeling a bit frustrated at the mention of their tortured housemate. "I just think that it wouldn't have escalated to this if I had confronted them about it at the very start."

Lincoln scoffed, "We both know that you wouldn't be able to do that, Tor. You're just too nice. If you never fainted, you would have let them continue stalking you until we graduate or something worse happens."

The blonde teen groaned and turned to face the ceiling. She hated how her friend was always right and very blunt about it. She couldn't help but agree with Lincoln that, with her personality, she would have definitely let the four get away with following her for the rest of her life in Hogwarts—maybe even life _after_ Hogwarts. Her bed creaked, and she felt a weight at the edge of her bed. Victoria wiggled to the other end of the matress so her friend could squeeze in with her. The metal frame of the bed creaked and moaned at the sudden movement.

"Tori?"

"Hmm?"

"What happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. You never faint. You're not one to faint, not even after being chased like that."

"I-I don't know."

"Did you—Did you use any of your—"

Victoria sighed, unable to lie to her friend any longer, "I did."

The bed creaked as Lincoln rolled onto his stomach and used his arms to keep him up in a plank position. "Which one? Was it successful?"

The blonde tore her eyes away from the dull ceiling of the Hospital Wings to look at her friend. "Did you notice that Lupin was missing a scar from here", Victoria pointed to right side of her face close to her ear and moved it to the top of her nose, "to here?"

Lincoln's green eyes widened and his mouth formed an 'oh', "That was you? Wow. Just, wow. Is that why you looked like you were dead all week?"

The blonde teen rolled her eyes, "Oh yes, aptly put, Lincoln. Such a charmer."

"I _am_ very popular with the ladies," her friend replied, grinning and wiggling his eyebrows. The two burst into fits of laughter.

It was very true that Lincoln Shaw was popular with most of the girls in their house, and some even from the other houses. Victoria could see why with his tall stature and cool demeanor. She would always hear some of the Slytherin girls telling each other how "mysterious" he was, at which she would always laugh. The blonde always guessed that maybe they all liked her friend because of his hair which was always neat and styled.

"Seriously though," Lincoln said, wiping a tear from his eye after their fit of laughter, "Tori, that's a huge development."

Victoria rolled her eyes, "No, it wasn't. That was just a scar. Scars fade easily."

"Yes it is! Back then, you couldn't even heal a minor scrape. Look at you now! Old ladies will be lining up for your services. Ow!"

Lincoln glared at his friend as she laughed while clutching the pillow that she used to smack him. The brunet grabbed the pillow near Victoria's feet and retaliated by whacking her on the head. This led to an all-out pillow fight with the two jumping over hospital beds to dodge an attack. At some point, the duo tried to wield their pillows as swords and dueled while jumping from hospital bed to hospital bed. Victoria laughed and ran away as Lincoln aggressively attacked and shout nonsense French words. Soon, almost all of the beds were messy and pillows were strewn all over the Hospital Wing. What they never noticed were a pair of icy blue eyes wide-eyed at the childish display.

"Victoria! Mr. Shaw!"

The blonde teen almost fell off the bed that she was on when she saw the young matron at the entrance of the Hospital Wing, a glowing blue potion in hand and a scowl in place. Immediately, Victoria leaped off the bed and fixed her hair, which was tangled and sticking up in odd angles, and her clothes. Lincoln stayed on top of a hospital bed, grinning wildly and waving his free hand.

"Hello, Madame Pomfrey!" the boy shouted, his grin getting wider when Madame Pomfrey's left eye twitched.

"Poppy," Victoria started, giving up completely on appearing neat, "I am so sorry. Link and I will definitely tidy up the beds and put back all of the pillows."

The young matron clicked her tongue and went straight for the nightstand beside the bed that Victoria woke up in. The blonde teen scurried to her side as Lincoln jumped from bed to bed and crashed on Victoria's bed. Madame Pomfrey gave a 'hmp!' to Lincoln's actions, but the dark-haired Slytherin paid it no mind.

Madame Pomfrey place dthe potion bottle on the night stand and said, "It's not the beds you should be sorry about. Those can be easily fixed."

To prove her point, the matron grabbed her wand from her apron pocket and gave it a flick. All of the beds in Hospital Wing started to tidy themselves up and pillows flew to and fro. She continued, "What you should apologize for is being a patient and not resting!"

Victoria had to fight a smile at the comment as she sat next to her best friend. She always found the young matron sweet, even in her strict commands. The blonde knew that Madame Pomfrey only wanted what was best for her patients.

"And you, Mr. Shaw," the matron threw a pointed look at Victoria's friend who tried to look shocked and insulted at the look, "I expected better from you since I know you care deeply for Victoria's wellbeing."

"We were just having a lil' bit of fun, Madame Pomfrey," Lincoln defended, placing a hand on hand on top of his heart.

Madame Pomfrey pulled out a tall cup from one of the drawers in the nightstand and poured a large amount of the potion into the tall cup, "Well I would prefer it if you had fun whilst sitting down and resting."

"You and I," Victoria elbowed her friend's side, but he continued, "have very different definitions of "fun", Madame Pomfrey."

The matron of Hogwarts gave the green-eyed Slytherin another pointed look before handing the cup to the blonde teen. Victoria's nose immediately wrinkled at the sight of the potion, though the scent of liquid was definitely blueberries. Victoria could only describe the liquid as like the liquid inside a lava lamp that Lincoln showed her a while back.

"I always wondered how that would taste like," Lincoln said thoughtfully, peering into what looked like a radioactive blue potion.

Before the boy could snatch the cup, Victoria downed the whole drink in three gulps. The initial taste of the Grace-Up Potion was always the best: blueberries and something floral. When the aftertaste settled in, the blonde had to stop herself from gagging. The taste was bitter, as if she swallowed an overflowing plate of bitter gourds and orange peels. Somehow, she really didn't know how, the aftertaste was sort of gamy.

"It tastes just like how you would think Evan Rosier's feet smell like," the blonde wiped her mouth, shivering from the horrible taste in her mouth. Lincoln made a gagging noise.

He groaned, "Great, now I can't steer my mind away from Rosier's feet!"

Victoria giggled, almost forgetting the horrible taste on her tongue that made her want to run a toothbrush over it a few times. She could already feel the potion working its magic. The dull throb in her head was slowly fading, as if the hand holding her mind in a tight grip was slowly easing up and releasing the tension. The other aches in her body also started to ease up. Sweat started forming on her temples through the warmth that rushed through her body.

"Mr. Shaw," Madame Pomfrey picked up the clear bottle from the nightstand and carefully wiped off some imaginary mess on top that the bottom of the bottle made, "Victoria needs to rest."

Lincoln nodded, moving slightly forward on the bed so that there was enough space for Victoria. Victoria almost laughed. "That's Madame Pomfrey speak for "You have to go. Visiting hours is over."."

Lincoln's shoulders sagged and he threw his best friend a look, "I was trying to make it seem as if I didn't understand it so that I wouldn't have to go. Honestly, Tor."

Victoria's mouth formed an 'oh' and she laughed, swatting the older boy's arm. The golden bangles on her harms clicked as they rattled. "Go. If I remember correctly, _you're_ the reason she doesn't like visitors after visiting hours."

They both looked the young matron who was still scrubbing the spot on the nightstand, trying to look as if she didn't hear any part of their conversation. However, the frown her face told the two that she had thought of the unfortunate incident after agreeing to let Lincoln stay the night when the Hospital Wing became flooded with a mysterious green liquid and Victoria was stuck to the ceiling. The blonde could see her best friend's grin at the corner of her eyes. To help the young matron out of her misery, she turned to her friend and asked, "Don't you have a class to go to?"

Her friend opened his mouth only to have it clamped shut. His eyes widened and he started to frantically search for his book bag. Victoria snickered, knowing well that it was probably time for his Herbology class. Once he had found his book bag, which was somehow under Victoria's hospital bed, he sprang up and started sprinting to the door. Before Lincoln exited the wing, he nodded towards Madame Pomfrey, who had her back towards the green-eyed teen, and mouthed "talk".

"Thank you," Madame Pomfrey sighed, "I thought he would never leave."

Victoria laughed, "He would have left if you asked him to."

"No, no. You're the only one he listens to. If I had asked him to leave, he would take it as if I had told him "I love you". And he did, one time."

Victoria smiled at the memory, remembering too well how her stomach had hurt from laughing at a pretend love-struck Lincoln and an irritated Madame Pomfrey. "He means well. He just likes poking fun at people."

Madame Pomfrey gathered the used cup and the potion bottle and placed it on a nearby trolley. She placed her hands on Victoria's face and turned the blonde's head side to side to check her condition.

"Poppy," Victoria started as Madame Pomfrey checked her temperature, "why did you leave the Hospital Wing in my care before?"

Victoria could see the matron bristle and her bright blue eyes hardened. She tried to look at the nearby trolley to ignore the look Madame Pomfrey makes when she was going to lie. "I told you before. I had an emergency to attend to."

"Yes, I know," Victoria huffed, "but you did not tell me what kind of emergency it was for you to have left your post here. I mean no disrespect, and I definitely don't want you to feel as if I'm being nosy. I'm just curious about the whole "emergency". I know you, Poppy; you wouldn't leave the Hospital Wing even if it was burning down."

"That's a bit exaggerated, is it not?"

The blonde teen raised an eyebrow at her supervisor, doubting that what she had proclaimed was an "exaggeration". In the two years that she had known the young matron, she had felt Poppy's love for the Hospital Wing and for the students of Hogwarts. So much so that she had experience watching Madame Pomfrey turn down numerous offers at other hospitals, even from St. Mungo's. How Madame Pomfrey was able to resist accepting the offer from St. Mungo's was surprising for Victoria, but it made the teen respect the young matron more for her loyalty.

Madame Pomfrey sighed and sat down the bed near Victoria's. "You must understand that I never intended or wanted to leave you alone for that night. However, seeing as the Headmaster called for me and we were both so sure that you could handle _whatever_ came your way, I had complete faith in leaving the Hospital Wing in your hands."

Victoria flushed in delight. Not only Madame Pomfrey saw that she was capable, but also _Headmaster Dumbledore_. Gaining recognition from the headmaster was a huge stepping stone for her. She could already see the near future of working at St. Mungo's. It's right in her hands. Only two years left!

"Did something happen that night? You've never been this persistent for answers since your fourth year," Madame Pomfrey questioned, breaking Victoria's daydream of being a successful healer.

The teen's mind flashed back to the image of the broken Gryffindor on the hospital bed at the end of the Wing. "Nothing, really."

"Are you sure?" Hogwarts's matron had a doubtful look on her face. "Half of the emergency potion that I left you is already gone, Victoria."

Victoria had to control her expression that shows that she had forgotten about the important tidbit. "There was a student who went in because of a stomach ache."

"And you gave that student the emergency potion instead of giving him essence of mildemum to ease the pain?"

The teen felt sweat already starting to form on her temples. "To be honest, I was quite curious on the effects of the potion so I wanted to try it out."

"And Mr. Lupin?"

Try as she might, Victoria could not think of any way to go around this subject or think of any more lies to tell. She had been forced into a corner, simple as that. "I'm so sorry for lying, Madame Pomfrey. It's just—patient confidentiality. I just feel like I shouldn't talk about what happened that night. I know I'm a hypocrite for asking you for transparency when I could not provide it."

The matron shook her head, a soft smile on her face. "It's quite alright, Victoria. I commend you for sticking to the rights of the patient to privacy, even to me. Although, next time, I think it would be wiser to come out with the truth and directly state your thoughts rather than trying to avoid it. Don't you think so too?"

Victoria's eyes widened at the comment. The comment sounded more like it was stated for another issue rather than lying to keep the patient's privacy. As Madame Pomfrey pushed the trolley into her office and Victoria laid down to rest, the blonde teen wondered just how long the young matron stood at the entrance of the Hospital Wing and if she heard about a certain problem that Victoria was deciding on.


	4. That Nasty Feeling

**Chapter 4**

When Remus Lupin left the Hospital Wing, he had more questions than answers. Who exactly was Victoria Thwaites? Why hadn't he notice her before? How did the owner of those scared brown eyes land herself in Slytherin? Remus groaned at all of the questions firing off in his head. He jogged to catch up to his friends who were walking a bit too close. The lanky boy almost wanted to separate the two taller ones who were talking in hushed tones. He knew what that meant: there was another scheme, prank, or plan brewing. A dark and heavy feeling churned in his stomach like every disastrous potion that Sirius half-assed in Potions. Remus certainly did not like that feeling.

"Shaw is definitely a problem. We have to separate those two."

Remus felt like he wanted to throw up. It had been two weeks. Two weeks full of obsessing over the blonde Slytherin. After the first week, he had already felt tired and gave up on most of the chases. If Thwaites wanted to expel him for being who he was, Remus figured that she would have done it as soon as she figured it out. However, as days passed and chases became more frequent, the Gryffindor was sure that the blonde had not noticed or even suspected him. Even if she did, Remus could silently drop out of Hogwarts since he was the one who mentioned the word "wolf".

"Eye of Newt."

The swing of the portrait brought Remus out of his reverie. His three friends were still hunched together, completely focused on whatever hair-brained scheme that they had come up with. He had already tried to convince his friends before to leave it alone, but Sirius had insisted that they had to be sure that Thwaites would not expose Remus' secret. Oddly enough, every time that they got close to cornering to the Slytherin, she would either run away or be swept away by Shaw. He couldn't blame the blonde teen. She must have been so scared to see four guys coming up to her.

The four Marauders navigated through their common room, avoiding all of the other Gryffindors in sight. The task wasn't that hard for it was still the afternoon and classes were still in session. Luckily enough, Madame Pomfrey gave the four a pass for carrying the unconscious Thwaites into the Hospital Wing. Never before had he seen Madame Pomfrey look disgruntled and absolutely worried. The matron always had an answer: a solution to whatever health problem that came. Well, aside from his lycanthropy.

The group climbed up the stairs towards the boys' dormitory and entered the room marked Sixth Years F but had been scratched out and replaced with "The Marauders". He had to replace that thing, Remus thought. It should at least have a better written "The Marauders" plaque.

A pillow smacked Remus' shoulder which made him snap his head towards a grinning James, a snickering Sirius, and a fidgety Peter. The three were already sitting at the middle of their shared room, book bags and parchment forgotten at the side. The light golden sunlight from the windows illuminated his friends' faces. Remus glared playfully at James and sat in between Sirius and Peter. Before any of the three could raise any more of their plan of action, the amber-eyed teen opened his book bag and took out a piece of parchment, his quill, and his inkpot. The three Marauders groaned.

"Come on, Moony! Can't you let go of your parchment and quill for one night?" exclaimed Sirius, reaching to snatch Remus' Charms essay.

Remus and twisted and stretched his body so that the grey-eyed Gryffindor couldn't get his hands on his essay. "No. This essay is due on Thursday."

"It's only Monday!"

Remus rolled his eyes, "Yes, but we have a 3-foot essay on the effects of the filduke root due on Wednesday. I'm not about to cram those two essays like you're about to."

"Wait," Peter's head snapped towards his friend, "there's another essay due on Wednesday?"

Remus sighed and continued writing his essay.

"Alright, alright. Can we get back on topic already?" James asked, nudging Sirius' side. Sirius nodded, searching through his bag before placing a blank, folded-up parchment on the carpet in front of them.

James scooted closer to Sirius to get a better look at the parchment. Peter tried to do the same but ended up bumping into an irritated Remus who was still writing his essay. Careful not to disturb the focused Gryffindor, Peter scurried behind him and squeezed himself between Remus and Sirius. Of course, Remus couldn't hold on to his focus on his essay before putting his full attention to their recent "project". It took around two years before they were able to get their project working or even properly concealed. The drawings themselves took about half a year because the others kept messing with his work.

James pointed his dark wand at the parchment, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

All of the Marauders had to hold their breath as words started to appear on the page and swirls of ink formed the many corridors, corners, rooms, passages, halls, and floors of Hogwarts. An elegant and elaborate logo that showed "The Marauder's Map" appeared at the middle of the folded parchment. Remus let out a breath, a feeling of accomplishment warming his body.

Sirius whistled and rubbed his thumb on top of their "project", "I can't believe it. Gentlemen, it's a real looker."

"Move over," James bumped Sirius' shoulder and made a grab for the map, " _I_ can believe it. We have a genius in our group. It's not actually surprising that we can make something like this."

"Prongs," Sirius placed a hand on his heart, his eyes slowly getting watery. "That's the nicest thing you ever said about me."

The bespectacled Gryffindor rolled his eyes playfully, a smile attempting to break out on his lips. Remus grabbed a scrunched up piece of parchment from his bag and flung it towards Sirius. The ball bounced off Sirius' head, earning a laugh from James and Peter.

"He was talking about me, ya looney."

James wiped a tear from his eye, "Actually, I was talking about myself. I'm obviously the genius in the group. You lot can't do anything without me."

Sirius scoffed, "Did you hit your head when we were running after Thwaites, mate?"

"He must have sniffed the fumes from Peter's potion this morning," Remus teased, scanning his eyes over what he had already written in his essay.

Before the amber-eyed teen could press his quill to the smooth parchment once more, the paper was swiped from his hands. Sirius stood up, running towards the door that led back to the Common Room. James cheered him on, howling like he was watching his favorite team in the World Cup. As Sirius neared his exit, Remus pointed his wand at him and gave his wand a flick. With a ' _thud!_ ', Sirius collided with an invisible wall just before he touched the doorknob. James, Remus, and Peter burst out laughing, almost rolling on the floor with glee. Their friend was also rolling on the floor, but groaning in pain.

"You're such a tosser, Moony! You could have broken my beautiful face!"

"Will you just get back here, Black? If you can focus for one second, we'll be able to get back to business," James called, tossing a pillow towards Sirius' direction.

Remus clicked his tongue, "And give me back my essay!"

Grumbling, Sirius trudged back to his friends, stomping his feet as he did so. Peter scooted over to allow his friend some space in their semicircle. After Sirius dropped down and handed Remus his essay, he crossed his arms and made ' _hmph!_ ' sound.

James snickered, "All right there, you big baby?"

"Just get on with it," Sirius commanded, nudging James' shoulder with his own.

James nodded, still snickering, and opened the folded up parchment. There was a silent appreciation for different folded up parts of the map that showed different corridors and secret passages that the four had discovered over the years. There was the one behind the gargoyle on the fourth floor, and the trap door in the broom closet right next to Professor Burbage's office. Remus wanted to check the other parts of the castle like the common rooms to see if they finally show up on the map; however, James refolded the bits that weren't needed and settled on the hallway that led from the Great Hallway to the Hospital Wing. Remus had to suppress a groan. There they go again.

"So, this is the route that she would normally take when she's asked to come into the Hospital Wing," James ran his finger over the direct path that he was talking about. It was a no-nonsense path, straight and quick.

Peter added, "Last time she went there, it took her only 10 minutes to arrive at the Hospital Wing. Before that, it took her 15 minutes because she was with S-s-Shaw."

Sirius' eyebrows scrunched together and he sneered, "Why are you so afraid of Shaw? He's all talk and full of bollocks."

"You weren't the one who was partnered with him in Transfiguration," Peter remarked, biting on his fingernails. "He t-t-transfigured my quill into a knife without even raising his wand!"

James rolled his eyes, "You must have said the spell wrong, Wormy. Freddie Junderson from Hufflepuff accidentally turned his quill into a porcupine!"

Peter nodded, but continued biting his nails. James continued, "Anyway, so, we only have less than 10 minutes to intercept her and talk to her."

"What if we place a potion in her dinner? That'll give us more time."

Remus' eyes widened as he whipped his head to face his Sirius, "No! We are not placing any potion in her food!"

"So a stunning spell, then?"

Remus' jaw fell open. "You—what? No!"

"So we grab her?" James asked, one of his dark eyebrows raised.

The amber-eyed teen had to fight the urge to run his hand down his face. "Can we just let it go? She already told us to stop and to leave her alone."

James started folding the map back up, "We can't leave her alone, Moony. You know that. She knows something, and we can't risk her blabbering about it to anyone!"

"It's been two weeks, James," Remus exclaimed, gesturing with his hands for emphasis. "Don't you think that she would have told someone by now?"

"But she's a Slytherin!" Sirius insisted, his eyes flaming with blatant rage. "She's bound to spread it to her housemates sooner or later! It's better to act on it now than to wait for her to get you expelled from Hogwarts."

Remus had a feeling that what Sirius said wasn't true, but could he really be sure? Could he really give his trust to a girl from their rival house? A thousand thoughts swam in his head, all taking battle on his beliefs. Remus didn't even know the girl well enough to say that she would not tell others about that night at the Hospital Wing. However, judging on what he had seen when they were following her around, she did not seem like the type to spread rumors or to break her promise to keep patient privacy. The person that she was always around was Lincoln Shaw, and Shaw did not even give any sign that he knew.

Remus sighed, turning back to his essay, "Then let her get me expelled."

"What?" The three Gryffindors all had their eyes wide and their mouths open at Remus' statement. The first to snap out of the shock was Sirius.

"Moony, you don't mean that?" Sirius placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "You love it here at Hogwarts, and we want you _here_. With us."

"Thank you, Padfoot. But if she does see that telling others about the "wolf" in the woods because she's worried for their safety, then it's on my head and I deserved to be expelled."

Peter reached out to grab the map and place it in front of Remus, "That's why we have to stop her from telling, Remus!"

"Peter's right, Moony! We have to stop her before it even escalates to that!" James exclaimed, slamming his fist on the floor.

"And you want to stop her by placing a potion in her food, hitting her with a stunning spell, or grabbing her from behind?"

James waved his hand dismissively, "Finer details! We'll figure that out soon. Bottom line is that we will stop her from getting any funny ideas or telling any Slytherins."

"We could obliviate her memories."

"That could work," Sirius agreed with Peter, nodding his head at his friend.

"Wha— _no!_ " Remus's almost felt enraged at the suggestion. He knew that his friends were only trying to look out for him, but to even think of obliviating someone's memories was too much to think about. The Forgetfulness Charm or Obliviate was one that had dangerous side effects when done improperly. If the caster was clumsy or if the incantation was casted improperly, then the caster or the victim could suffer permanent damage on their mind or completely lose all of their memories. The risk of failure, as Remus had learned through _A Collection of Dangerous Charms Vol. 5_ , was too high and the numbers of cases where people had suffered because of the charm were slowly rising.

The amber-eyed teen grabbed his parchment and quill and stuffed them in his book bag. He knew that he shouldn't crumple his essay like he did, but he paid it no mind. The essay could still be rewritten and that situation could be given a solution. The situation with his friends, however, was one that Remus felt that couldn't be given a solution—at least, not at the current moment.

James was the first to act and realize that they had struck a nerve with Remus. He sprang up, walking over to his friend and crouching beside him. The bespectacled teen placed his hand on his fellow Marauder's shoulder turning him slightly so that Remus would face him. "Moony, look, mate, they were only joking."

"Joking or not," Remus fumed, zipping his bag shut, "you should never plan on casting a memory charm on anyone."

"We really were joking, Moony," Sirius started, a pleading look in his eyes. "We wouldn't do it. We promise."

Remus could only nod stiffly. The anger was rolling off his body in waves and his head felt completely heavy. He had turned a blind eye to most of their tricks and bullying, but this was one time that he could not bring himself to fake a smile in. Aside from the risk of messing up the charm, his friends could also face expulsion from using a charm like that on another student. How could they even think of using that spell?

"Really, Moony, we also promise to stop following and trying to corner Thwaites if that makes you feel better," James added, chuckling a bit to ease the tension in the room. Remus groaned and shook James' hand off his shoulder. Of course they would only offer to stop stalking, not because they feel that they did something wrong, but as a bargaining piece for him to cheer up.

Remus did not know why he was even angry at the thought that his friends did not see what was wrong with following Thwaites around. They've done it before with Severus Snape to irritate the Slytherin. Back then, it was fun and, though it was wrong to annoy someone like that, it did not bother him as much. However, it was different with Thwaites. Maybe it was the actual fear in her eyes or the how she cared enough to ask him about his current state even after they chased her down until she fainted that Remus felt what they did, what they were doing, and what his friends were discussing were all wrong. Did she deserve it? In one part of his mind, he wasn't quite sure that she did since he did not know anything about the blonde, but every other part of his brain else seemed to tell him to that she absolutely did not deserve any of it.

"I'm off to bed," Remus said after a few tense seconds. He ignored their protests, swung his book bag onto his shoulder, and stood up.

"Mate, come on," James pleaded, standing up as well and following his Remus to his bed. "We were only joking earlier. We'll leave Thwaites alone. We promise. Right?"

"Yeah," Sirius agreed reluctantly, slowly folding the map back into itself.

"We won't even breathe the same air as her," Peter provided, a determined look in his eyes.

James couldn't help it and laughed, "Wormy, that's kind of hard to do seeing as we have some classes with her and she also eats in the Great Hall. But we will try."

Remus could only nod, partially accepting their promise before hooking his bag on a hook near his bed. The tension didn't ease off his body like he thought it would after hearing their words. He knew that they would keep their promise. That's the kind of friends that they were. Yet, there was still something that kept Remus sick to his stomach.

"Shall we go to the Great Hall to get some grub?" Sirius prompted, standing up and dusting off his pants.

Peter's ears perked up at the mention of "grub" and also stood up to stand next to the grey-eyed Gryffindor. James nodded, muttering a "Bloody finally", before walking back to the Marauder's Map abandoned on the carpet. He pointed his wand at the parchment and said, "Mischief managed."

The four watched in awe as the map continued to fold into itself and the words slowly vanished as if it was getting sucked into the paper. When the map was finished folding itself in, it appeared as if it was any other piece of folded parchment. James picked up the map and placed it on his nightstand.

"Moony?"

Remus took off his cloak and shoes and hung his cloak at the same hook his book bag was on. He placed his shoes neatly in front of his nightstand. The three watched, defeated, as their friend climbed into his bed and pulled the covers up to his chin.

"Remus—"

James pulled Sirius back and shook his head. James knew that Remus needed time to be alone to think about what happened earlier that day. Even he needed some time to think about what had happened. They had played countless pranks on people, mostly Slytherins. Every single time, students from that house would look at them with such annoyance, anger, and contempt, which always garnered a laugh, a sneer, and a jeer from them. This time, Thwaites had looked scared and...something else that James could not believe: disappointment. Every time that they look at the blonde Slytherin at the Great Hall or when she would catch sight of them in the hallway, her face always held a lot of disappointment. Disappointed at what or why exactly, James wasn't sure.

"We'll smuggle you some food, all right mate?" Sirius called out, slinging his arms around James' and Peter's shoulders. The three took one last look at their friend who had already begun sleeping on his bed before heading out into the Great Hall for dinner.

* * *

Victoria Thwaites was not a plain-looking girl. She had this lady-like air about her, which was exuded by her straight posture and gentleness in handling her silverware. Her golden blonde hair stood out from the mass of dark-haired Slytherins that sat beside her. Although she held a gentleness in her actions, her face seemed to say otherwise. James did notice that her sharp features and almond eyes made her look emotionless and uncaring—perfect for Slytherin. That was probably why he and his friends had never noticed her before, even with her looks: she blended in with the rest of the housemates. Her friend, Lincoln Shaw, was a stark contrast in this aspect as they had definitely heard of him before all of the events that had happened. He was the louder and more outgoing of the two. There were girls who fancied him and would sometimes follow him around like how the younger girls would follow him and Sirius. James could see why they would. Shaw was tall and neat, albeit too lanky, with bright green eyes. His face looked kind, although James knew that behind all of that was a heartless and sadistic Slytherin.

"You confused too?"

James turned towards Sirius who was on his right at the table. "Confused on what?"

Sirius popped a grape into his mouth and stared the odd pair at the Slytherin table. "On what made Remus feel so guilty about Thwaites."

James snickered, spearing his chicken with his fork, "No. Not really. You know our Moony; he never really liked us playing tricks on people."

Sirius snorted, "And he gets over it after a minute then follows us so that we don't do anything stupid."

James sighed, eating a piece of his chicken. "I guess it's on the fact that we _did_ do something stupid this time, and he was there with us."

Sirius thrust his fork through a piece of steak on one of the serving platters, earning a few curious stares from their fellow housemates and a few glares from the Slytherin table. "You call trying to save his arse stupid?"

"Of course not, Padfoot," James argued, placing his fork down. Peter had stopped eating then, a chicken leg in his hand and eyes wide on his two friends. "Bloody Hell, mate, relax. I'm just guessing."

Sirius wiped a hand on his face and groaned, "I hate Thwaites. And Shaw. But mostly Thwaites."

James and Peter looked at the boy who still had his hands on his face. They both knew he did not meant what he said but, Sirius being Sirius, would probably pin everything on the blonde teen. James understood it completely. If she hadn't been there on that night, none of this confusion and tension would have happened.

James understood it, but he knew that he couldn't hold on to that understanding much longer. Sirius wouldn't be able to too.

* * *

Sirius Black was not like the average student at Hogwarts. He was coarse, boastful, and judgmental. Every pore of his body seemed to ooze self-confidence and pride. Victoria could also see that in James Potter, but he was more cunning in a way. If provoked, Black would most likely be the one to start the fight while Potter would probably choose a perfect time to strike back in the most humiliating prank or scheme. Pettigrew was the silent, kind-hearted one, but he always followed his friends around in a way that always made Victoria feel weird. It was as if he was a lost puppy following his masters.

"You okay?"

Victoria turned to her friend and smiled, "Yeah. Just thinking."

"Thinking of how to get back at those pricks, hopefully," Lincoln muttered before taking a bite out of a bread roll.

Victoria had to agree with her friend. The prick part, specifically. She had heard snippets about their different pranks, surprises, and bullying which always made her feel sick to her stomach. How they could go around bringing harm to other people was beyond her.

Victoria sighed and pushed her plate of untouched roast chicken and beans away. The potion that Madame Pomfrey gave her worked splendidly. So much so that she couldn't event eat a pea without feeling too full. The aches in her body were gone, and the headache that she had only remained as a dull throb. After a short nap at the Hospital Wing, she felt almost as good as new. Because of this, she felt that she had no reason to play hooky tonight. She turned in her seat and swung her legs to the other side of the bench. The teen collected her books on the table and stuffed them in her book bag.

"Hey, are you going already?" Lincoln asked watching her with a smile.

Victoria smiled back, "Yeah. I'm not particularly hungry anyway."

"Do you want me to walk you to the Hospital Wing?"

Victoria shook her head in response and stood up, swinging the strap of her bag over her shoulder. "I'll be fine. I'll be back later."

"Common Room?"

"Common Room."

With that, the blonde left the Great Hall. She had run into a couple of younger Slytherins who all greeted her or waved. She would always wave back or nod her head to them. The portraits, which lined the usual hallway that she took, bid her a good evening as she strolled. Finally, she could feel at ease walking in her favorite corridor. As she was nearing the corner that turned to the hallway leading to the Hospital Wing, she felt someone grab her from behind and pull her into a room. A hand was placed on her mouth to prevent her from screaming; however, she did not do anything but think " _Why me?_ "


	5. Pleasure Doing Business With You

**Chapter 5**

If there was one genre that Victoria could pick to read forever, it would have to be mystery. Victoria loved the suspense, tension, and adrenaline that came from the feeling of not knowing what comes next or knowing that something big was coming. She always gasped after finding out how the mystery was solved or how the dastardly deed was committed, then muttered how she knew it—whatever _it_ was. This time, however, Victoria didn't want the suspense, tension, and adrenaline. And she certainly didn't want to be part of any mystery novel.

Victoria knew that it could be any of the four Marauders holding her and dragging her into a room, so she made no move to try to get away. She could neither run away nor faint out of it now, and at least she will finally know why they started following her in the first place.

As she was pulled inside, she noticed that what they had stepped into was a classroom, and an abandoned one at that. The desk and chairs were collecting dust, and windows were covered in thick, heavy curtains which made the room too dark for Victoria to see her captors. The open door leading to the hallway was the only source of light in the room, but it shut itself after a few seconds so the blonde was submerged in darkness. Whoever the captor was, she had to be thankful that the person did not pull too hard, held too tight, or completely smothered her face with his hand—which smelled faintly of oranges.

When her captor let her go, Victoria's hand immediately went into her cloak pocket for her wand. Her hand only met with the soft fabric of her cloak when she realized that her wand was gone. She knew that she had it in her pocket when she went into the Great Hall earlier that evening since she took it upon herself to fluff up the pillows in the Hospital Wing before she left. She patted the other pockets that she had but found no sign of her wand.

Soft light started flooding through the room as her captor dragged the thick curtains away from the windows. Because of that, Victoria could see the old classroom better. It looked like any other classroom in the castle except for the furniture at the back with white cloth covering all of them. When she turned to look at the person holding the curtain, she had to hold in a groan. There, sitting on a desk and swinging his legs, was Lincoln Shaw. He reached into his cloak pocket and pulled out an orange before tossing it between his hands.

"Link, what?" Victoria breathed, gesturing to the environment around her.

Lincoln held up the orange, an eyebrow quirked, "Want an orange?"

Victoria was stumped. This did not turn out like one of those grand villain reveals that she had read about. "I don't want an orange, Shaw."

Lincoln reached into his pocket and asked, "How about some berries then?"

When he had found what he was looking for, he threw them towards his friend, but the blueberries that he had thrown ended up on the ground. Victoria only stared at the fallen berries in both confusion and, partially, regret. Lincoln shrugged, "Or not?"

"What are you doing?"

Lincoln sighed and jumped off the desk. Dust particles scattered and floated through the air as he did so. The dark-haired teen crossed the classroom and went close to the door, pressing his ear against the dark wood. That action made more questions fire through Victoria's mind: What was he listening for? Why are they hiding in an abandoned classroom? Why did Lincoln drag her inside a classroom instead of asking her to come with him when they were in the Great Hall? Why are they still inside the classroom? Where was her wand?

"Link—"

Lincoln put one finger against his mouth, "Shh!"

Victoria closed her eyes and placed a hand on her face in exasperation. Trust Lincoln to become so dramatic and suspenseful.

Suddenly, Lincoln muttered, "He's definitely there."

"Who's is definitely there?"

Lincoln shushed his friend once more and pressed his ear hard onto the door. From the other side, he could hear footsteps: footsteps that belonged to one person. The Slytherin walked towards Victoria and pushed her towards one of the big windows in the middle of the classroom. In one swift move, Lincoln undid the latch on the window and pried it open. Cold air breezed in and kissed Victoria's cheeks. She almost closed her eyes and asked Lincoln for a few minutes to soak up the cold breeze, but she knew that he wouldn't let her. Not when he acted like he was on a mission.

Lincoln went first, carefully pulling himself over the ledge and dropping to the grassy grounds on the other side of the window. He held out his hands towards Victoria and gestured for her to come over. In response, Victoria crossed her arms and shook her head.

"Come on, Tor," Lincoln urged, stepping closer and reaching through the window.

The blonde took a step back so that her friend could not grab her. Lincoln threw her a look of exasperation and gestured here again to come closer. Victoria shook her head once more and replied, "I'm not leaving until you tell me who is definitely in the hallway and why I have to climb through a window."

Lincoln groaned, "Fine, but I'll tell you as soon as you climb through the window."

Victoria raised an eyebrow, "Promise?"

"Promise."

The teen nodded and came closer to the window. She pushed up from the window ledge and propped her knees there. Lincoln grabbed on to her to steady her and help her over to the other side of the window. When her feet had landed on the ground, Victoria tried to pat the dust from her uniform. "So? Spill."

Lincoln stuffed his hands into his pockets and leaned on the wall of the castle. Under the moonlight, Lincoln looked like one of those cheesy male protagonists in romance books that the author tries to pass off as mysterious and unclear whether he would get together with the female protagonist (but it was 100% sure that he would). The wind picked up his hair and lightly tousled it. Victoria knew that a moment later, Lincoln would freak out because of it. "Alright, so you left the Great Hall earlier and I made sure that those jerks wouldn't follow you. But then, I noticed that there was one of them already missing."

"Lupin."

"So you noticed him missing too?"

"They never go anywhere without each other. Earlier, he wasn't with them when they came into the Great Hall."

Lincoln shot her a look which she ignored.

"I got a weird feeling, so I tried to catch up with you. Lo and behold, I saw Lupin following you down the hallway holding some ridiculous piece of parchment. Luckily, I still remember some shortcuts that we took before, climbed out a window, came into this classroom, and pulled you in. There we go; story done. Now can we please go to the Hospital Wing through this beautiful moonlight path?"

Instead of answering or walking down the side the castle, she turned towards the window and started pushing up on the window ledge. She did it with great difficulty, arms shaking under her own weight.

"What are you doing?"

When she finally propped her knees on the ledge, she turned to look at her best friend and raised an eyebrow, "What do you think I'm doing? I'm trying to go back in."

"Why are you going back in? Oh, no. Please don't break your neck. Here, hold my hand."

The blonde teen grabbed Lincoln's hand as she eased herself back into the classroom. The dark-haired Slytherin stayed on his side of the castle until Victoria pulled him in. His abdomen slammed into the ledge which earned a groan from the tall teen.

"Oh, Merlin," Victoria gasped, "I'm so sorry, Link. I was going to pull you in. Oh, shoot, right."

"Don't," Lincoln warned, holding on to his stomach. "Just tell me why you went back in."

Victoria sighed, leaning on to the ledge on the window with her elbows. "Don't you want to know about the truth?"

"Don't want you want them to just go "poof"?"

"Link," the blonde warned. The boy raised his hands nonchalantly to show surrender. "Seriously, don't you want to end all of this? I know that you think it'll all start over again in a few days. We know how persistent they are. I'm tired, Link. It's only Lupin outside—if he's still outside. He'll be easier to talk to."

"Fine," Lincoln huffed, grabbing the window ledge and hoisting himself over to the inside of the classroom. He landed with a soft " _thud!_ " and scattered dust into the air. "But if he even thinks about lifting his wand, he'll be on the floor before he can even blink."

Victoria could only nod, knowing full-well that Lincoln would never give an empty threat. They both tiptoed towards the exit door of the classroom. Lincoln slowly opened the door and peeked out into the hallway. What he was faced with is a pair of shocked amber brown eyes. Instead of backing away or showing surprise, Lincoln tried to appear taller and glared at Remus Lupin.

"Hi," the Slytherin greeted tensely. "Fancy meeting you here on this splendid evening."

Lupin opened his mouth and closed it, finding himself unable to form the words that filled his mind. He was prepared for Thwaites, and he had even prepared the necessary questions to ask and statements to declare. However, one look from Shaw tossed all of his questions and declarations out the window.

"Well, Lupin?"

Victoria sighed and elbowed her best friend away from the door. "Hello, Lupin. Would you like to talk?"

Lupin nodded slowly, keeping an eye on the glaring Slytherin behind Thwaites. "That would be great, but can we talk in private? I want to ask something about _that night_."

Before Victoria could answer, Lincoln cut in with "Whatever you have to tell her, it goes through me. I don't care if you feel shy or whatever. I am not letting any of you get near her anymore. If you have a problem with that, leave."

Victoria felt her face flush at Lincoln's direct attitude, but made no action to take it back. She only whispered, "Sorry."

"So, are you in, Lupin?" Lincoln asked, pushing the door of the classroom wide open with his hand.

Lupin peered into the classroom, sweeping his eyes through the furniture inside. He didn't know what to say. On one hand, he could finally talk to Thwaites and clear things with her. But then, being in a room with a protective Lincoln Shaw might make things worse. When he turned to look at Shaw, he almost felt like baking away. He looked impatient and annoyed that Remus was there. Remus couldn't blame Shaw. If any of his friends, especially Lily, were followed around like that, he would be annoyed with the perpetrator too. The dark and heavy feeling in his stomach before settled back and made him feel sick.

"Yes. I'm in," Remus said, nodding. He entered the classroom, making sure to choose a chair or desk that was too dusty. He took the chair close to the front of the class, dusting the seat as he did so. When he turned to look back at the duo, he found that they had been staring at him the whole time from the doorway. Then, the Slytherins looked at each other and shrugged.

Thwaites walked towards the desk at the very front of the classroom that faced the whole class. It was the desk that Lincoln sat on earlier that evening, which Victoria felt had the least amount of dust on the top. Shaw followed suit, keeping a wary eye on Remus. The lanky boy could still see the annoyance set on Shaw's face. The taller Slytherin sat on the desk, dangling his legs, while Victoria simply leaned her weight on the edge of the desk. Amber eyes met soft brown in that moment.

"Why are you following me?" Thwaites asked, looking disappointed at Remus once more.

Remus always felt funny when she gave them that look. If there was one look that Remus wished he would never get, it would be disappointment—or maybe it was absolute fear. Both, unfortunately, he saw Thwaites make at him. He sighed and ran a hand through his head. "I wanted to talk to you and also to apologize."

"Apologize for what?" Lincoln asked before Victoria could. He continued, almost sneering, "For following her until she fainted? For harassing her every second that you could? For following her now after she asked you to get the bloody hell away from her earlier?"

Victoria rubbed her forehead which shook her bangles. Before Lincoln could go any further, Lupin stated, "For everything. I'm sorry for everything that happened."

This made the blonde stop and look at the Gryffindor. It felt like there was a weight that lifted off her shoulders after hearing those words. True, it was not the apology that she felt that she wanted from all of the Marauders, but knowing that at least one of them feels apologetic made her feel a tiny bit better.

"We will stop following you and none of my mates will harass you again," Lupin promised, looking sincerely at Victoria. "But, you have to promise something for me."

Out of the corner of Victoria's eyes, she could already see that her best friend was already poised, ready to strike back, like a snake. Before he could try to verbally attack Lupin, Victoria asked, "And what promise will that be?"

This simple question made the two gob smacked. They had their jaws and eyes open. Lincoln appeared to be more surprised as he stuttered, "You-You-You—what? What? W-wait a second!"

Lincoln jumped down from the desk and grabbed his friend. As he dragged her behind the covered blackboard behind the desk, he called, "Give us a minute!"

Victoria threw Lupin a tight smile before disappearing behind the blackboard. When she faced her best friend, she had to hold back a laugh. If there was one thing that she knew Lincoln, it was that he was always so sure of himself. Once, he almost broke his leg after trying to climb the tallest tree in his backyard because he told Victoria that he definitely could. Then, after a few years, he did break his arm after succeeding in climbing the tallest tree in his backyard. He said to Victoria, with a wide smile, as he was being brought to St. Mungo's, "I told you I could do it!"

When Lincoln had stopped pacing in front of her, he had the confidence back on his face. "Please tell me that you aren't seriously considering taking Lupin's condition, whatever it is?"

"I was just asking what the condition was," Victoria stated calmly, crossing her right hand over her left.

Lincoln stared at her face before he nodded, "You have a plan! Brilliant! What is it?"

Victoria giggled, "I don't have a plan, Link. I honestly wanted to know what he was offering."

Lincoln shot her a look which she waved off. Lincoln sighed, "Oh, come on! You must have a plan or something?"

She shook her head and answered, "Nope."

"Can I offer one?"

This was the time that Victoria shot _him_ a look which Lincoln answered by raising both his hands in surrender. Victoria walked back to the desk, leaning on it. Lincoln followed, heaving a big, dramatic sigh and shooting a look at his best friend. Victoria rolled her eyes though a small smile was on her lips.

Lincoln cleared his throat and nodded to Lupin, "Proceed."

Victoria rolled her eyes harder. She offered Lupin a small smile and asked, "So, what promise were you talking about?"

Lupin breathed in deeply, "About what happened that night—what you heard and what you saw—don't tell anyone about it. Please, I can—"

Victoria held up her hand to silence Lupin, a gesture she saw her mother use a thousand times already. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Lincoln smile proudly at her then turn his smile into a smirk at Lupin.

"Lupin, I think you're forgetting that I uphold patient's rights to privacy. I am not a healer yet, but I did make an oath with Madame Pomfrey," Victoria explained. "And I plan on sticking with that oath."

The lanky Gryffindor sighed with relief. He ran a hand through his hair and then down his face. He must have thought that it was all over, but then Victoria spoke up, "I, however, have a condition for you."

The Gryffindor opened and closed his mouth like a fish because of the blonde's declaration. When he had finally collected himself, he leaned closer, placing his arms on the desk. "What condition?"

"I will keep your secret and make this declaration with your friends, but I can tell Lincoln about it." Victoria crossed her left hand over her right and stared at Lupin's amber eyes. It was as if Lincoln's confidence was passed down to her or being absorbed by her. Or perhaps it was because she had practiced different scenarios in her head of talking to the Gryffindors all throughout the day? Whatever it was, it kept Victoria standing her ground and pushing for more. "And…"

"There's more?" Lupin asked, standing up from his chair. His eyes were wide as he looked at Victoria under the moonlight. The light brought out a harshness to her features though her eyes remained soft.

Was this her true nature? Was she finally shedding her caring façade and showing her snake fangs? Lupin eyed the duo, getting annoyed at Lincoln's proud face and getting curious at the haggling the girl was making.

"And," Victoria gave a dramatic pause that Lincoln would be so proud of, "you will give me a small vial's worth of that emergency potion."

Lupin's eyes widened, and his jaw dropped. _That_ he wasn't expecting. He thought that she would ask for test answers, make him do her homework for a year, or make him parade around in his underwear. That's what other Slytherins would have done, he thought—not ask for a bottle of dittany and silver.

"Wha—Why do you want that?" he asked after his bout of shock.

Victoria shrugged, keeping her position on the desk, "I told all of you. I am a student assistant at the Hospital Wing so that I can be a Healer. That potion is not one that I've come across before, and if I want to be the best, I have to know what it is."

Lincoln snorted, trying to hide his laugh from the Gryffindor. He looked down and grinned, whispering a "Good job" to his friend. Victoria nodded in acknowledgement, momentarily forgetting that it was a serious deal and smiling at her friend.

"So," Lincoln started.

Victoria picked it up, "do we have a deal?"

Both of them crossed their arms over their chests in a show of iron will and Slytherin pride. To Lupin, they appeared as twins with the same wavelength of thinking. How exactly could he walk out of this without burying himself deeper into the lie of the "wolf"?

He sighed, knowing that there was no way out of this with the two Slytherins teaming up. He rubbed his hands all over his face, "I think the deal is too unbalanced. You have the upper-hand here."

Victoria nodded slowly and pushed off from the desk. She paced in front of the two boys, hands still in their proper place. After a few seconds, she stopped and looked at Remus, her brown eyes flashing. "All right, then. What are your terms?"

Lincoln raised a brow at the question. The advantage was a great thing to have and, depending on how Lupin was desperate to keep the secret, they could have kept the step up over the Gryffindor. However, he knew that Victoria would want some fair play and balance in deals.

"Terms?" Lupin asked, confused.

"Terms," Lincoln repeated, remaining in his position on the table. "It means "What do you want, Lupin?". What do you think would make the deal more "balanced" in your eyes?"

"I'm good at Potions and Ancient Runes. I'm training to become a healer, so I can help you with any cuts and scrapes," Victoria said, listing off what she could offer. "If you need any potion ingredients, I can easily get a stash—"

"A favor," Lupin cut Victoria off in the middle of her list which surprised the Slytherin.

With wide eyes, she mumbled out a "What?"

"A favor," Lupin repeated. "When I need your services, I can ask for one favor that doesn't have any rules."

Victoria opened her mouth to reply, but someone grabbed her wrist and pulled her behind the chalkboard again. Lincoln called out, "Going to brainstorm for a bit, Lupin! Sit your butt down!"

"What was that for?" Victoria asked when Lincoln finally let her go.

Her best friend crossed his arms over his chest and asked, "You were going to say yes, weren't you?"

"It is only fair," Victoria said while shrugging. "Asking him to steal a potion isn't exactly the best idea that I came up with, and it could put him in danger. What's a small favor, Link?"

Lincoln rolled his eyes, "He's a Marauder, Tor! I don't care if he's one of the more docile ones; he's practically the genius there."

"It's a favor, Link. I don't think it will be that bad. We could always discuss the terms of that favor and make it so that it isn't in any way life-threatening or humiliating." As Victoria spoke, she became more and more unsure of herself. Perhaps there was an evil scheme that is waiting to start once she accepted. The more Victoria thought about it, the more likely it seemed that Lupin and his friends would use something like this against her, but as she looked at the Gryffindor from behind the chalkboard, she could feel that it wouldn't be the case with him. "Trust him. And trust me on this decision."

Lincoln searched his best friend's face for any sign that she was kidding, but all he found was complete trust and certainty that it was hard for him to say no. "Fine. Come on."

The duo went back to their previous position in front of the anxious Lupin. They nodded at each other and resumed their stance with their hands crossed on their chest. Victoria nodded her head at Lupin, a sign of confirmation. "I accept your terms. However, should the favor be life-threatening in any way, the deal is off."

The Gryffindor's eyes widened as he looked at Victoria and processed her answer. "What? Merlin, of course not. What kind of deals do Slytherins make that would make you think that?"

Lincoln narrowed his eyes at Lupin, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Victoria raised her hand, this time towards Lincoln. The boy huffed and turned away, glaring at large windows at the side of the room. She sighed and looked at Lupin, "I assure you, we don't do any deals that could cost someone's life. We just want to make sure that this favor wouldn't be that…extreme."

"I swear it on my life that it's not going to be that _extreme_ ," Lupin assured, still vaguely concerned with the deals that Slytherins make to have the two place a limit.

Victoria nodded in approval and offered her hand to shake towards the boy. "Pleasure doing business with you, then. I'll expect the potion sometime soon, I hope?"


End file.
